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For travelers looking for a Caribbean vacation spent on a tropical island paradise, San Andreas offers an alternative to well-traveled destinations like Grand Cayman or the Bahamas. Although the island is well-developed for tourism, it has somehow escaped the fame of the rest of the Caribbean. However, it offers the same clear waters, white sand beaches and palm trees.

Identification

San Andreas is the name of both the island and the island's largest town. The island is part of a Colombian island chain that is located much closer to Nicaragua than the Colombian mainland. The island is only 170 miles east of Nicaragua's Caribbean coastline, but 480 miles north of Colombia, placing it squarely in the west-central part of the Caribbean Sea.

Getting There

The town of San Andreas has a small airport only a 10-minute walk from the town center. This airport only receives domestic flights from Colombia, however, so travelers must connect through the mainland. There is no sea ferry service to San Andreas or the surrounding Colombian islands, but passage by sea can be arranged aboard cargo transports. Americans traveling to Colombia do not need a visa, and receive a 60-day tourist stamp in their passports upon arrival.

Considerations

Frommer's described San Andreas as part of "the safest and most accessible travel experiences in [Colombia]," so much of the danger associated with travel in Colombia does not apply to this island. Many on the island speak English as well as Spanish, due to a colonial and piratical history dating back to the 17th century. However, a mix of English, Spanish and French, known locally as patua, is also widely spoken on the island and that tongue may prove a source of confusion for visitors.

Attractions

Because San Andreas is part of a duty-free zone, the island has become a major destination not just for its beaches, but also its shopping. Lonely Planet describes the town of San Andreas as a "bustling center of shopping malls and holiday resorts." However, the coast is lined with so many secluded beaches that escaping from the crowd for peace and quiet by the sea is just a matter of taking a public bus or renting a car, motorcycle or bicycle and heading out. The island is also part of the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, and the local scuba diving is reputed to be excellent.

Climate

San Andreas is close to the Equator, so the weather hovers in the low-to-mid 80s Fahrenheit, with high humidity throughout the year. The rainy season is from September to December, but the steamy, equatorial climate produces a chance of a short, early or mid-afternoon downpour just about every day of the year.